Sailing Backward By Captain Samuel Samuels
Bully Samuels is the most famous of the packet captains who drove big ships fast across the North Atlantic in all weathers. Starting as cabin boy, he became a captain by age 21. In 1853 the fast packet Dreadnought was built to his order. She competed successfully with steamers and earned the name "Wild Boat of the Atlantic" in the Western Ocean packet trade. She is remembered in the sailor's song, "Bound away to the westward in the Dreadnought we go. " Here Captain Samuels recalls a hard fight to save his ship and his life after a giant wave swept over the Dreadnought. In the midst of the storm there was a lull. The water left the deck, and the crew carried me below. While being carried aft, I ordered some one to take the wheel, which had been deserted , or we should lose the rudder. When I was taken into the cabin, it presented a sad appearance. The skylight had been stove in, and the water had poured in through it until it covered the floor a foot deep . More dead than alive, I was laid upon a sofa in my stateroom. My clothes were stripped off, and when my right boot a nd trousers had been split down, my leg below the knee revealed a compound oblique fracture, with the skin broken on the inner side, There was no doubt that the femoral artery was punctured; it was apparent from the bright scarlet color of the blood, which I was losing very fast. With my remaining strength I ordered a tourniquet applied till I could recover myself, which I did after a few minutes, aided by a stimulant. I felt that the hand of God which had snatched me from the deep would not be withdrawn from me now. We had no physician on board this voyage, and no one knew how to set a
leg. I therefore undertook the task myself, aided by my purser and a couple of men. After a fruitless attempt we abandoned the idea of setting it. Our ignorance on the subject was not enlightened by any rules laid down for such contingencies in the medical books that usually accompany the ship's medicinechest. We tried to force the bones into place while the leg was extended; we did not know that bending the knee would have relaxed the muscles, so that the strength of a child would have sufficed to do what was required. After an ineffectual attempt by three strong men to pull the limb into place I became so exhausted that they desisted. I asked to have the compress applied, to give me time to collect myself; then I decided upon amputation. Life was ebbing fast, and now was the time to act before I became too weak. I had the tourniquet twisted tight, and the knife laid ready for use. It was necessary for me to perform the operation, as no one else would undertake it. I gave instructions for the taking up of the arteries, in case I became too weak to attend to them . Everything depended upon nerve. I felt that it was better to die in making the attempt than to die without making it. At this juncture the second officer, in whom I had much confidence, came below, and said that, as he had had some hospital practice, he could bandage the limb to stop the bleeding. He begged me not to amputate it. He said he had fallen from the maintop-gallant yard of the ship Benjamin Adams and broken both legs, which he showed me were as crooked as ram 's horns. He said that we were in the track of the steamers, which always carried surgeons, and might fall in with one at any time. The weather was moderating, and we might soon have a chance
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Captain Samuel Samuels, shipowner and master.
to get the leg properly set. I took his advice, and was made as comfortable as wet bedding would allow. Everything was saturated with sea-water. My leg was laid in a V-shaped box, whi le l was wedged on the sofa, to keep from rolling. My worst fears were now realized. We lost our rudder, and were left to the mercy of the waves without the power to guide ourselves. Night set in without our meeting any vessels. The wind and sea moderated, and finally became calm. The ship, which had been heading southward, was turned to north by the motion of the sea. The morning sun rose with a light breeze from the west. I sent for the carpenter. I did not know that he had been killed by the sea the day previous. His death had been purposely concealed from me. I wished to instruct him how to fit a jury-rudder. His loss at this juncture was doubly great. I gave the instructions ¡ to others, and at the same time gave orders to get the ship on the southward tack for Fayal for which place the wind was a leading one, and the distance being about three hundred and sixty miles. Every attempt to turn the ship by the use of drags ended in failure. My inability to be on deck worried me so that inflammation showed itself in my leg. Another day passed and we did not see a sail. At midnight the jury-rudder was ready to be shipped . Tackles were hooked on to its head and heel from the fore and main yards, the chief mate attending to the after end, and the second officer to the fore. It had scarcely been hoisted over the rail when the straps parted and the whole apparatus dropped overboard and was lost. This nearly drove me frantic. Four days passed. Sleep was a stranger to me, narcotics seemed to excite instead of quieting me. My diet was tea aind toast, instead of the nourishing Weste1rn Ocean packet-clipper Dreadnought.
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SEA HISTORY, FALL 1978